The countries of England and Scotland, and the principality of Wales. The mainland part of the UnitedKingdom of GreatBritain and NorthernIreland.
From AreYouBeingServed:
- Miss Brahms: If Britain's so great how come we've got inflation, and taxes, and all that?
- Capt. Peacock: I'll tell you what's great about Britain, Miss Brahms. It's the only country that isn't semidetached! Er, Australia? New Zealand? Sri Lanka? [Go tell Captain Peacock or the BBC.]
I believe the origin of the Great in GreatBritain solely refers to size, not power, standard of living or anything. When Britain was ruled by the Duke of Normandy, the French referred to Brittany as "Little Britain" and Britain as "Big Britain". Grand Britannia got translated to "Great Britain". Which is just as well: I don't think we'd get away with referring to it as Grand Britain!
Makes sense. Great and Lesser in toponyms usually refers to size.
HomeOffice
Great Britain